Doing business is tough, but that's why they call it "business," right? Whether you're just getting your feet off the ground or you've been around the block a few times, you're bound to have some hiccups with customer relations.

Bad reviews are a reality for any good business. It doesn't matter if your customer service chops are polished or if your user experience is streamlined: sometimes, people just don't like you.

The good news is that there are plenty of excellent (and not-so-excellent) ways to deal with negative reviews of your business. Here's our outline some of the best tips from our reputation management experts on how to handle negative reviews and always come out on top.

Recently, online video game storefront Steam published a blog post announcing changes to their review system. The impetus for these changes seemed to be a phenomenon known as “review bombing,” where large numbers of reviewers leave negative feedback in quick succession to tank a business’ or product’s online reputation.

Sounds pretty nasty, right? Well, this got us thinking about how unpredictable reputation management can be in the digital age.

Whether a posse of online bullies is trying to ruin your business or you’re just trying to get some more reviews under your belt, having the best reputation management strategies will help ensure that you come out looking awesome.

According to market research firm Ipsos, 78 percent of Americans say that online reviews influence their purchases. So, for this reason alone, online reputation management is critical for your business.

For small businesses, good reviews are more important now than ever before. In a recent study, 88 percent of buyers said their decision to purchase was influenced by reviews. Yelp is one of the most well-known sources of reviews for businesses and is a good place to start if you don’t have any.

Have Yelp reviews got you down? Feel like your business gets buried on page 4 of the reviews, or maybe some negative (and unfounded) reviews are getting too much play? Do you think the problem could be because you haven’t purchased any ads on Yelp?

Actually, Yelp has long been accused of manipulating ratings, a charge they’ve continuously denied.